The barebones truth is that global confusion has continued to grip us since the end of the pandemic. This new reality requires entrepreneurs to see an economy that bears new threats and opportunities beyond their borders and current capabilities to pursue other markets. This means that local business groups must lead their members in understanding and taking advantage of the opportunities these new realities present.

With this, there is a need to examine various trade agreements that aim to foster higher volumes of trade, and how local businesses can benefit from the provisions arising there from.

The first is our neighboring Southeast Asian countries. ASEAN economic integration will proceed whether we like it or not. Our neighbors Malaysia and Indonesia and Thailand which we were in the same league as ASEANs top economies decades ago take advantage of the lower tariffs. Their businesses are scouring opportunities beyond their borders, as evidenced by many trade missions from their countries seeking local distributors for their products. We now see many of their products on our store shelves. We will need to do the same if we are to remain a competitive ASEAN economy.

Another forthcoming opportunity is the possible renewal of the European Union (EU) Generalized System of Preferences which provides low tariffs for many of our products. Latest data show that our trade with the EU stands at 15.5 billion annual dollars. We exported $8.1 billion while we imported $7.5 billion from them. This volume of trade can grow with mutual investments of our companies in Europe, and their enterprises in our economy. The proposed Economic Free Trade agreements with countries like India will also lower tariff barriers, opening a larger market for our products entering India and vice-versa.

What needs to be done now is to improve transport of goods within Mindanao and the Visayas to lower costs and allow greater consolidation of materials to make products and export them. No one region has all the materials needed to drive comprehensive economic growth. Trade will be necessary for economies to thrive. Barriers to export must come down, and difficulties for exporters need to be confronted. It is time to unleash the entrepreneurial energies that build local economies.

Taking advantage of these will demand the strategic foresight and will of our producers since new markets are now open. We must always remember that in a free market economy, governments lay the groundwork for the entrepreneur to thrive. When businesses thrive, the economies grow, creating more enterprises and opportunities. The role of business organizations, therefore, is to ensure that these opportunities continue to grow toward making our businesses more competitive in the face of greater competition.

The good news is that the policy framework built during and after the pandemic, such as the CREATE law that lowered corporate income taxes to the levels of our ASEAN neighbors, reforms to provide cheaper electricity to large volume customers, the Innovation Act of 2018 and the startup law, among others, would provide the impetus for greater competitiveness through innovation, adding value to what we make so that these can be exported to create higher incomes for our producers. Congress must provide the necessary legislative oversight to see how and whether these measures have delivered the intended results.

With this, I hope that business groups can find ways to help more local companies build new capabilities, export more products and achieve new heights of growth. This helps build the resilience of the local economy as we face the future.